Modern Fairytale Tower House Features Five Staircases

Building a new house for a young couple on an irregular family plot, very close to the existing two-story home, Studio Velocity came up with a solution that also manages to provide a little privacy: a multi-level round house. House in Chiharada looks a bit like a modernized, bright white silo just off one corner of the traditional residence.

The positioning and shape of the new home works within the boundaries of the challenging site shape and makes it easy to place the windows in such a way that they aren’t facing those of the existing house. This way, despite the closeness of the two buildings, the occupants will never find themselves gazing at each other through their windows and doors.

The main entrance is located on the second floor, providing access to the common spaces of the home. The living room, kitchen and dining area are tucked into the voids between four boxed-in private rooms outfitted with arched doors and skylights.

These private rooms, including the master bedroom, a children’s room and the bathroom, are multi-level spaces that continue into the ground floor via five separate staircases. Each of these rooms also has its own ground-floor door leading to the gardens.

“The space seems like being on a street in town, and makes you feel it is on the ground level even though it is on the upstairs of the multi-floor building,” say the architects.

“Elimination of the discontinuity between multi-floor stairs that usually exists might result in the unfolding of a united and continuous new living environment. By interrelating with each area, including the outside, and by intersecting the living space from exterior to interior and from upstairs to downstairs, the hierarchy between the first floor and the second floor disappears and individual functions and sceneries mix together.”